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The Litter

Born 10/01/15These pups are 7/8 Great Pyrenees. Some people call that full-blood. But just to be clear, dad is an unregistered full GP from working stock and mom is 3/4 GP and 1/4 Pointer which manifests as shorthair in her (maintenance-free) fur. She is an outstanding livestock guardian dog. As alpha female, she is the main teacher to the pack. Her health and vigor are legendary. She never gets sick or injured, she’s solid like a tank, extremely strong, covers vast distances in seconds and doesn’t even look like she’s working hard, she’s super smart and clever and can truthfully guard the whole 20 acre land (and the neighbor’s too) with one paw tied behind her back while raising puppies. We’ve seen her do it! (Okay, not the part about the paw). She’s something to behold. Dad is not yet 2 years and is also an outstanding guardian dog, everything you’d expect and ever want in a well-balanced Great Pyrenees, from gentle as a butterfly with baby lambs to fiercesome protector while chasing coyotes off. And quite the devoted Romeo, BTW.

There are 3 girl pups in this litter that inherited short-fur from their mom, a plus for some people. The fur is super thick, just short. No tangles, no matting, dries out quick. Long fur has its advantages; better protection from cold and in a fight primarily. That’s super important. It’s super-cute too, and that could be a plus or minus depending on if there’s dog-thieves in the neighborhood. The disadvantages include that it requires lots of grooming to avoid matting and isn’t so ideal for rainy climates. Takes longer to dry out. (Takes longer to soak through to the skin too). So there’s advantages both ways and nice to have options! What a rare and wonderful opportunity to have an almost full blood Great Pyr with short fur! One of these girls is decidedly an alpha personality herself. You should see her take on the big dogs including her mother. No one else does that. She can handle 2 or 3 big dogs attacking her all at once, in fact she starts it! She’s quite awesome and how we imagine her mother was as a puppy.

12/05/15 Pups now 9 weeks old. Every dog owner from Oregon to BC should know about the dangers of what’s known as “salmon poisoning”, really a liver fluke that dogs get from licking the dead salmon or even from licking infected water. In other words, if mom was playing near the dead salmon at the river and she comes home all wet, then the puppies lick her (it’s cute how they lick each other dry), then they get it.

That’s our story of the moment. After just healing a round of older dogs, we’re now watching seven puppies, one by one come down with it. First they get a sad glazed look in their eyes. They’re tired and then get delirious and start wandering off. Diarrea and vomiting follow with more wandering off. If it goes far enough, they’ll just wander off in the forest to die. It’s a bit overwhelming with so many pups to watch out for, one after another wandering away…The good news is it’s curable with an expensive visit to the vet, a round of antibiotics and sometimes an IV to rehydrate. The best news is once they’ve had it they become immune.

So it looks like this whole batch of puppies will be immune. Good for you who adopt them, pretty stressful for us, we just have to admit. This week we’ll be administering lots of puppy medicine and trying to keep everyone warm, dry, hydrated and recovering. A challenge considering the weather! They’ll bounce right back after all that.